cpaden

This goes for all space heaters... including those overpriced infrared ones.

From http://www.air-n-water.com/heater_volt.htm

In terms of wattage, almost all 120-volt space heaters are rated up to 1500 watts at the maximum setting, and there is a 10/1 ratio of watts to square feet heated.

Therefore, a 1500 watt space heater (120 volts) can heat an area of 150 square feet. Therefore, if you want to heat your 450 square foot living room, you would need to purchase three space heaters for adequate heating.

jsouthard007

pikorella wrote:Check this out. Looks like the same model recalled in 2004. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml04/04191.html

I highly doubt that Woot is selling anything that is 8 years old.

I owned a prior model of this, prolly purchased around that time (2004-2006). Worked fantastic, only reason I no longer have it is because I was moving and didn't need it at my new place so I gave it to my roommate. Kicked out a lot of heat - thermostat was set real low for a 13x13 bedroom - but wasn't hot to the touch. No issues with not turning off when it reached set temperature. I think I did accidentally kick it over once or twice and it did shut off, turned on again when upright. The fan circulated the air really well - didn't need to use the ceiling fan at all.

I loved it and if I needed one I would jump on it (I have multi-zone heating in my new place so I don't). As for heating a 12x20 room, like I said my bedroom was 13x13 so I think it would as long as the room is enclosed and the ceilings aren't vaulted (prolly 9' or 10' max).

stangtime

I have owned one of these heaters for about 6 years now. I purchased it at walmart primarily to keep a tent warm during the fall/early winter season. I have to say that it is by far the best heater we have ever purchased, it was able to keep a 10x12 tent warm all night in 30 degree weather...even when we were snowed on. We now also use it to heat our bathroom on those cold winter mornings and it does the job well. I looked on the back of the heater and I guess they are not posting a model number because I can't even find one on mine. Here is the info from the back of mine: Type VTH, 120 VAC*1500 Watts*60HZ. It almost seems that VTH is the model, but it is no longer listed on their site....just on sites like woot now.

Hippster

I literally live 4 miles from Vornado's headquarters in Andover, Kansas. :D

I've had numerous heaters from them over the years and all have been well built. This is an older model and style but one of the best working! I wore my first one out from being used so much. Some of their newer models have digital controls yet I prefer analog since they are easier to operate in my eyes.

In for 2 since a few of my rooms can use help when it is cold outside!

1863650

I bought a DVH series heater similar to this a couple of years ago, only it was fancier with the LCD thermostat. It set me back over $70 after shipping, and it was absurdly noisy. It turned out that the heating element (just some flimsy wire wrapped around some treated paperboard) was resonating at an obnoxious frequency.

The thing thankfully overheated and cooked the control board before it even reached a year old, so I tossed it. I wasn't about to pay the shipping and "warranty fee" to have the junky heater repaired, that would've cost more than the price of a new heater.

oddsbeater1

thebaldwinboy

seachongo wrote:Anyone hazard a guess on the efficiency of using this in a rather small, but open door bedroom VS. using the older electric baseboard heater?

using the energy.gov formula for calculating the cost of an appliance, and assuming you use this 120 days of the year for 12 hours a day, and that electricity is 11 cents/kwh, and assuming you're running it on low (boy, that's a lot of assumptions), this will cost you $126.72 in electricity for the year.
Electric baseboards vary by the length of the baseboard and the age of the appliance. You can check your baseboard's wattage on the service plate. If there isn't a service plate, open the access panel to the electrical wires and see if there is one black wire or two feeding the heater. If it's one, it's 120 volts. If it's two, it's either 240 or 208. Since you're just estimating, we'll stop there--240 and 208 aren't so different.
Now, measure the length of your baseboard heater. If it's 24 inches long, at 120 or 240 volts, you're looking at 350 watts. 30 inches is 500 watts. 72 inches is 1500 watts. Since you said it was a small room, let's assume it's 24 inches long at 120 volts.

The formula for cost per year is:
(Wattage × Hours Used Per Day) (Days during year you use the appliance) ÷ 1000 = Annual Kilowatt-hour (kWh) consumption.

Then, take your Annual kWh consumtion and multiply that by your local utility's rate per kWh consumed to calculate the annual cost to run an appliance.
(Annual Kilowatt-hour) x ($$$$) = cost per year.

For your baseboard heater, I'll assume you run it for the same amount of time and the same number of days on the same 11c/hour estimate of cost. That'll run you $55.44 for the year.

I made a lot of assumptions here, though--if you've got one of those long heaters in there, it'll run you $237.60 for the year. Check it out for yourself--and happy number crunching!

TCayer

Save your money and get an infra-red heater. The ones with the wooden cabinet. Read the specs on them. You can find 1000/1500 watt heaters that heat up to 1800 square feet. I bought one last year, and heated my whole downstairs. It kept the furnace from coming on, and at night I shut it off and let the furnace warm the bedrooms upstairs. I saved around $100 per month on my utility bill.

gpartain

kimberlynicole wrote:Can the heat setting be disabled allowing the unit to be used as a regular air circulating fan?

Yes, you can disable the heat and use it as a fan. One caveat is that you'll be blowing the air across the heating wires which might grab onto dirt and dust more than a regular fan, so you may have to clean it out more often.

gpartain

TCayer wrote:Save your money and get an infra-red heater. The ones with the wooden cabinet. Read the specs on them. You can find 1000/1500 watt heaters that heat up to 1800 square feet. I bought one last year, and heated my whole downstairs. It kept the furnace from coming on, and at night I shut it off and let the furnace warm the bedrooms upstairs. I saved around $100 per month on my utility bill.

Do you have a recommendation for a good one? I was looking at those a while back...

sprousehouse

Hippster wrote:I literally live 4 miles from Vornado's headquarters in Andover, Kansas. :D

I've had numerous heaters from them over the years and all have been well built. This is an older model and style but one of the best working! I wore my first one out from being used so much. Some of their newer models have digital controls yet I prefer analog since they are easier to operate in my eyes.

In for 2 since a few of my rooms can use help when it is cold outside!

Agreed! I have an older model from years ago that looks just like this one. It is simple to use, and simply just works. It must be 10+ years old, but it looks just like this one and keeps going.

cdogg777

sprousehouse wrote:Agreed! I have an older model from years ago that looks just like this one. It is simple to use, and simply just works. It must be 10+ years old, but it looks just like this one and keeps going.

You know why it looks just like this one? Because IT IS THIS ONE. That's why you cannot find this model anywhere on the internet because it's so old it is discontinued. If woot wants to prove me wrong, please provide some proof or a model #.

clarasayre

I have that exact Vornado heater and we've used it the last three winters. LOVE it. Cool to the touch, didn't inflate our energy bills very much at all, kept the entire downstairs of our rented house warm throughout cold Cleveland, Ohio winters. I'm considering getting this one just to have it...we're in Michigan now and I'm thinking this winter is going to be nasty...

sdownin

rpstrong

It will suck the exact same amount of electricity, and put out the exact same amount of heat, as any other electric device rated at 1500 watts. That is, 15 100 wt light bulbs will produce the same heat. Or a bunch of desktop fans, totaling 1500 watts (and the circulation would be terrific).

Quite simply, every electric device is 100% efficient in terms of producing heat. If it draws 1500 watts, it will produce 1500 watts (~5100 BTU) of heat. This is simply the basic law of conservation of energy.

nic walker

gpartain wrote:Do you have a recommendation for a good one? I was looking at those a while back...

YES ! Reconmendation/s would be greatly appreciated. There is an Olies in Richmond Va that has a infrared 4 element in a black poly cabinent that heats 1500 sq ft with a remote for $140.00 (retail supposedly 200.00), and also a 6 element infrared in a furnature grade oak cabinent with remote and casters that heats 1800 sq ft for $160.00 (retail supposedly 300.00). No manufacturer names are mentioned in the ad/circular. Also listed is a "LIVING PURE" manufactured infrared 4 in 1 air purifier, sterilizer and humidifier with remote for $180.00 (supposedly 400.00 retail). I am heating a garage. Anyone have any experience with the above or similar units please....is there a site I can go to that would be good for decision making on infrareds?

ThunderThighs

These are newly manufactured units. They were built as an exclusive to a retailer that opted out of this unit at the last minute. We swooped in and grabbed then and you reap the benefits. Therefore, you won't be able to find comps or reviews out there for this model.

Looking at the box, it says:

The Wattage is 1,500 Watts, 12.5 Amps and 120VAC. We're adding this info to the specs.

emehew

lminor7 wrote:I hope s(he) is responding to you because I used to have a woot-bought Vornado table top fan where the fan is clamped to the base and can be removed for convenient placement. It worked great until the fourth or fifth time it was dropped. After that, not so much. I've searched for another one like it and can't find it anywhere!

I bought 2 of those and they still work great. I use them year-round to circulate air.

rross100

rpstrong wrote:It will suck the exact same amount of electricity, and put out the exact same amount of heat, as any other electric device rated at 1500 watts. That is, 15 100 wt light bulbs will produce the same heat. Or a bunch of desktop fans, totaling 1500 watts (and the circulation would be terrific).

Quite simply, every electric device is 100% efficient in terms of producing heat. If it draws 1500 watts, it will produce 1500 watts (~5100 BTU) of heat. This is simply the basic law of conservation of energy.

Ah, but what about a heat pump? You get more heat energy (watts) out than electric energy (watts) goes in. It's like magic!

rpstrong

rross100 wrote:Ah, but what about a heat pump? You get more heat energy (watts) out than electric energy (watts) goes in. It's like magic!

Fair enough, but you're introducing thermal heat from outside the room - essentially, an air conditioner in reverse. If your system is sealed (with only electrons passing back and forth) then the heat pump wouldn't apply.

gpartain

jsouthard007 wrote:No, because even if you turn the thermostat all the way down it stops blowing once it reaches the temperature.

With the unit I had, the fan never stopped, even if on "auto" - the fan simply slowed, and the heating element switched to low and then off. Flipping the fan switch to "on" also overrides the "auto" setting. Thus, I have used it as a fan a few times when needed.

Of course, I'm assuming this unit operates the same as my old unit, which had exactly the same switches and temp control.

rpstrong

dean37 wrote:I'm more interested in the cost of running this as opposed to my oil furnace. Is it more or less expensive?

Electric heat is typically the most expensive means of producing heat. But you might well save money by being able to heat only a small area instead of the entire house (or floor). The larger the space that you want to heat, the more economical the oil will be.

If you read the fine print for the "Amish hearths", you will find that any savings that they claim are based on such spot heating. (Interesting to note is that they never claim to be more efficient than other electric heaters - only that they are cheaper than running the central furnace).

BTW, it is in the 50s outside as I type this. I've yet to either light my furnace or build a fire this year, but I have a space heater (bought on sale four years ago for around $15) running under my desk.

kheldar633

jxliv7 wrote:Once again I am terribly disappointed in a product that does not fully disclose everything in the blurb - how many watts is this thing...?

[MOD: We've updated the specs.]

I've owned one of these Vornado heaters for going-on twenty years now. They haven't changed the exterior design one bit in that time and mine still works great.

I use it as extra heat in the bathroom when it's chilly so that it's a little warmer when going in and out of the shower and sometimes under my desk or in the bedroom on a lower temp setting at night (one thermostat/4+ room apartment makes for some uneven heat in summer and winter).

This is what the label on the bottom of mine reads in case it's helpful to anyone asking about power consumption:

rpstrong

thebaldwinboy wrote:using the energy.gov formula for calculating the cost of an appliance, and assuming you use this 120 days of the year for 12 hours a day, and that electricity is 11 cents/kwh, and assuming you're running it on low (boy, that's a lot of assumptions), this will cost you $126.72 in electricity for the year.
Electric baseboards vary by the length of the baseboard and the age of the appliance. You can check your baseboard's wattage on the service plate. If there isn't a service plate, open the access panel to the electrical wires and see if there is one black wire or two feeding the heater. If it's one, it's 120 volts. If it's two, it's either 240 or 208. Since you're just estimating, we'll stop there--240 and 208 aren't so different.
Now, measure the length of your baseboard heater. If it's 24 inches long, at 120 or 240 volts, you're looking at 350 watts. 30 inches is 500 watts. 72 inches is 1500 watts. Since you said it was a small room, let's assume it's 24 inches long at 120 volts.

The formula for cost per year is:
(Wattage × Hours Used Per Day) (Days during year you use the appliance) ÷ 1000 = Annual Kilowatt-hour (kWh) consumption.

Then, take your Annual kWh consumtion and multiply that by your local utility's rate per kWh consumed to calculate the annual cost to run an appliance.
(Annual Kilowatt-hour) x ($$$$) = cost per year.

For your baseboard heater, I'll assume you run it for the same amount of time and the same number of days on the same 11c/hour estimate of cost. That'll run you $55.44 for the year.

I made a lot of assumptions here, though--if you've got one of those long heaters in there, it'll run you $237.60 for the year. Check it out for yourself--and happy number crunching!

If the baseboard heater is putting out 350 watts, you will need to run it just over four times as long as the 1500 watt unit in order to generate the same amount of heat. It will cost you the same amount - to the penny - to generate the same amount of heat using either one.

One difference, though: the Vornado has a fan, which will lead to greater heat distribution throughout the room - and out the open door. For an open door scenario, a fan is not your friend. Advantage: baseboard.

wonderlandless

I had a vornado and I didn't like it very much. I was using it to heat my (very) small bedroom (it was more like a closet than a bedroom, really). It never really seemed to get warm enough, only push around luke-warm air and it was pretty noisy.

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